“You had no choice in that. None of us had any choice. But I would say we all made the best of our circumstances.” He came to his feet. “Now that we know you’ll be safe, countess, Finn and I are going to take our leave.”

“I’m glad you all were finally able to meet,” she said. “I hope something lasting can develop between you.”

Aiden grinned at the viscount. “Our sister Gillie owns a tavern, the Mermaid and Unicorn. You’ll have to join us there for a drink sometime.”

“I’d like that very much.”

He turned his attention back to the woman who’d given birth to him. “If you find yourself in need of anything at all, send word to me.”

“Perhaps you’ll join me for dinner sometime.”

“I won’t be a stranger. I promise you that. I’ll stop by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

“I keep hoping I’ll find a list of where Elverton took all the children, but I fear for him once they were out of sight, they were out of mind. But I know from experience that they never left their mother’s hearts.”

“I like our brother,” Finn said.

They were sitting at a back table at the Mermaid and Unicorn, downing their pints as though tomorrow all beer and ale would be banned from Britain. They’d gone up to see Elverton before leaving. Aiden had expected to feel some sort of satisfaction at seeing the earl so helpless with his sagging features. Instead, he’d merely felt sad that such a vile excuse for a human being had ever existed.

“I don’t know how he managed to turn out halfway decent. I do know I’m glad the bugger didn’t keep me.”

Finn grinned. “The rotter.”

Aiden laughed. God, it felt good to laugh. “Right. The rotter.”

“Our brother might be in need of a bit of corrupting.”

“And you, as the irritatingly happily married man, are just the one to do it.”

“Point made. Those days are behind me.”

They both sipped in silence for a while.

“Your blows didn’t cause his apoplexy,” Finn finally said.

“No, but our presence did. His face was red with fury and hatred. He despised us.”

“We were a reminder of his sins.”

“I don’t think he cared anything about sinning. I think he just didn’t want to be bothered by us. We were an inconvenience.”

“I’m glad he gave us away and never publicly acknowledged us. He’s despicable. I wouldn’t want to be associated with him.” He took a swallow of his beer. “Your mother, though—she seemed decent enough.”

“Made mistakes in her youth, though.”

“Didn’t we all?”

“I’m sorry the countess didn’t know who your mother might be.”